1984 Ford Bronco Project

[M Rose]

Mines never going to look that good... for now ill settle on fixing my minor cosmetic issues and work out a plan for huge upgrades in a few years.... need more time in the mountainswith her to know how im really going to drive her.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I know what ya mean. I didn't plan to go this far into it. But after deciding to make it my daily driver as well as family adventure mobile it grew. I was given some requests and definite needs to included or upgrade. And so the tools and parts started moving.

 

[M Rose]

I hear ya there.... Mine is my DD as well... she lets me do what ever I want to the bronco, but everything I do to it is making it more comfortable to hear and the kids

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I got the axles and everything I wanted off the old one removed and pressure washed.





Time for the old friend to take one more trip. Off to the crusher.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I got the axles and everything I wanted off the old one removed and pressure washed.

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Time for the old friend to take one more trip. Off to the crusher.

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Rest in peace ol girl !

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Also pressure washed the newer frame that I will be using so I can get it cleaned up for some paint. Going to replace the leaf spring brackets since a few are getting pretty thin.



Did find a spot for another repair. Nothing a little cutting and welding and reinforcement couldn't fix.





Ended up with a little helper for a bit.



Drivers side spring and brackets removed.



Passenger side almost removed...



After the brackets are off I started to clean up with a wire wheel.



Now just a lot more time with the wire wheel then its clean up and paint.

 

[M Rose]

That metal looks very good, love the detail you are taking in this build

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Also pressure washed the newer frame that I will be using so I can get it cleaned up for some paint. Going to replace the leaf spring brackets since a few are getting pretty thin.

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Did find a spot for another repair. Nothing a little cutting and welding and reinforcement couldn't fix.

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Ended up with a little helper for a bit.

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Drivers side spring and brackets removed.

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Passenger side almost removed...

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After the brackets are off I started to clean up with a wire wheel.

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Now just a lot more time with the wire wheel then its clean up and paint.

Cant open attachments !

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Cant open attachments !

Okay they opened. I can appreciate all the work your doing on the clean up of parts. I've done it several times and I know how hard it is and time consuming. The last time I did it I just took it to a sand blaster who also rust primed it. Didn't really cost that much and I still had to final paint it. You sure work fast, it seems like only yesterday you were taking the body off both rigs.
Your doing good superman !
Lanlubber

 

[IronPercheron]

That 9 inch can be converted to a high pinion rear... protecting the driveshaft and increasing ground clearance.

You can buy the 3rd member from Hi-9 or you can make the conversion at home. You look like you could handle it, the trick is to build a oiling system (slinger style) to keep the pinion bearing bathed in oil.

They run surprisingly low temp, and create the mentioned benefits above.

Keep on keepin on.

 

[IronPercheron]

I was talking about the side steps hanging down, not the bumpers. I never heard of a 10.25 rear gear ratio, what did that come out of. The tires must have been 60" diameter. 4.10 is a good all around gear as long as the tires stay under 35" Dia. (IMHO)

OHHHHH

Those aluminum steps are off now, I stored them to sell later.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

That 9 inch can be converted to a high pinion rear... protecting the driveshaft and increasing ground clearance.

You can buy the 3rd member from Hi-9 or you can make the conversion at home. You look like you could handle it, the trick is to build a oiling system (slinger style) to keep the pinion bearing bathed in oil.

They run surprisingly low temp, and create the mentioned benefits above.

Keep on keepin on.

That's good for the rear diff. What about the front, I've never heard of doing it to the front (by a do it yourselfer) which I think is far more vulnerable. I don't think he is planning a rock crawler, just challenging trails etc.
What about that Dakota ? What terrane are you going to challenge ?

 

[M Rose]

That's good for the rear diff. What about the front, I've never heard of doing it to the front (by a do it yourselfer) which I think is far more vulnerable. I don't think he is planning a rock crawler, just challenging trails etc.
What about that Dakota ? What terrane are you going to challenge ?

On the FSBs and F-150 the front diff is already very high with the TTB suspension. Longarms, home brewed control arm brackets, and custom axle housings can lift the third member higher if you feel that the stock geometry leaves the diff vulnerable. Or you can do a solid axle swap and achieve the same resaults

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Yea the front doesn't get much higher. Most of the fords come with a high pinion front axle from the factory. I've considered the Hi9 before. at the time it didn't seem worth the money. It already has the gears I want and an air locker in it. rebuilt it all 4-5 years back. I may be wrong but if I remember right you needed to run a special ring and pinion with the hi9 to get the correct mesh and at the time it actually made the ring and pinion weaker due to running on the coast side of the gear set. But It's been years since I looked at them so some of the down sides have probably been corrected. I did like the idea of getting it up higher. I'll have to look into it some more.

I've been in some decent boulders but nothing compared to whats farther west. I won't say It will never be rock crawling but it isn't my primary focus. Mostly it will be rough back country roads and mild to medium mountain trails. Hope to make it out to the Southwest again at some point to do some exploring and camping with the kids. So I'm sure some minor rock crawling will be involved. Since this one is nicer than the last one. It will probably stay about 2/3 or less of the way up most difficulty scales. Challenging enough to be fun. With the wife along I'll have to keep the crazy down a little and the water below the hood! Trying to make it capable enough to get me down almost any trail I get the urge to explore and still drive home.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Rest in peace ol girl !

She was a good and fun one. I was sad to see it go. But the body was so far gone in all the structural spots there was no sane way to revive it.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

I got the rest of it cleaned up this weekend. Lots of fun time with the wire wheel and wax/grease remover. But I got it.





After a final srub with was and grease remover I sprayed 2 coats of epoxy prime on the frame.





Then I put 2 coats of valspar industral semi gloss black paint on.







It is a little shinier than I would like but I'm pretty sure I'll get over it. Now to let it dry and start putting some things back together.

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Got the body bolted back on the frame finally.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Got the body bolted back on the frame finally.

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Super nice, you've been working your butt off on this project. You should be pretty proud of your accomplishments in such a short amount of time. I'm very impressed with your ability for detail !

 

[Dakota Houligans]

Super nice, you've been working your butt off on this project. You should be pretty proud of your accomplishments in such a short amount of time. I'm very impressed with your ability for detail !

Thanks. My chiropractor has been liking all the extra hours and work. It's a good thing I don't sleep much normally! Probably being more fussy than I need to be for it's intended purpose. But the hope is that it will last for awhile.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Thanks. My chiropractor has been liking all the extra hours and work. It's a good thing I don't sleep much normally! Probably being more fussy than I need to be for it's intended purpose. But the hope is that it will last for awhile.

At least another 50 + years !